Building Trust with Marginalized Communities: ABC10's Race and Culture Team's Journey
In the wake of the racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd, newsrooms across the United States were prompted to reevaluate their role in perpetuating biases and stereotypes. At ABC10 in Sacramento, California, this introspection led to the creation of the Race and Culture team, a dedicated group aiming to serve historically overlooked or underrepresented communities by amplifying their voices through authentic representation, community engagement, and equitable reporting.
The team, officially launched in April 2021, was born out of a recommendation from diverse journalists, predominantly journalists of color, within the ABC10 newsroom. Its primary goal is “to serve people who have been historically overlooked or underrepresented in the news by amplifying their voices through authentic representation, community engagement and equitable reporting.”
Gonzalo Magaña, ABC's director of special projects and engagement overseeing the Race and Culture team and ABC10 Originals, stressed the importance of building relationships with diverse communities and earning their trust.
“Historically, communities of color don’t trust news outlets or the media just because of the way they have been portrayed, so we have put a lot of effort over the last few years upgrading those relationships,” Magaña said. “And we have also learned that, as a news outlet, we can contribute to further harm.”
The outlet decided it was time to be proactive to undo the harm they’ve caused and to create a model that other news outlets could follow, should they make the same commitment.
“How do we perpetuate racism? Or how do we perpetuate stereotypes or prejudices in our own media? And how are we causing harm? Those were conversations that at least we were fortunate to have in our newsroom,” recounted Sabrina Sanchez, an engagement and special projects producer with ABC10 who was instrumental in launching the team.
One of the central aspects of the outlet’s approach is transparency. The team has participated in candid conversations behind the scenes of some ABC10 stories to ensure they consider the potential harm that their coverage may cause to viewers. An example of this was when ABC10's show To the Point with Alex Bell aired a segment about a father named Sherrano Stingley, whose arrest by Sacramento County deputies ultimately resulted in his death. To avoid causing undue distress to viewers, the station carefully edited and selected the body camera footage to be shown, and host Alex Bell explained why they were not airing the entire video. “We know that the video could be hard to watch for some people, so we want to let you know ahead of time,” Bell said on the segment. “We also do not know all of the details.”
“So all those conversations about how we’re treating the story are happening before we hit the air with the story, and the Race and Culture (team) works with ‘To the Point’ in having those conversations,” Magaña said.
ABC10's Race and Culture team attended a Trusting News training session focused on building trust with communities of color, further solidifying their commitment to fostering transparency and credibility. Trusting News is “a research and training project by The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and The American Press Institute” that lays out resources and best practices for journalists and newsrooms to build credibility across the board.
As a team, they have acknowledged the challenges they face in serving more than ten counties in California.
“That’s a huge undertaking. California is one of the most diverse states in the country and so it’s a great opportunity. It’s a high bar,” Sanchez said. “I think we’ve done a really great job, but I do think it takes a lot of work and we’re continuously trying to do better, and learning how to do better. Because we don’t have all the answers, we just continue to have our mission statement be our guiding post.”
Nevertheless, ABC10 credits its successful approach to a very conscientious team who care about making sure the ends of building trust justify the means—and others, even Joy Mayer, director of Trusting News, noticed their aplomb even in brief interactions.
“Just from the beginning, it was clear to us that they were ready to really act on what we were going over in the [Trusting News] workshop,” Mayer said. “They were not just there to make small changes. They were there to really invest. … When you understand people’s perceptions of news deeply, and you understand what misassumptions they might have about news, or what frustrates them the most about news, or why they might feel disenfranchised from the news, then you can make decisions in your day-to-day coverage that start to rebuild trust and change that relationship.”
For ABC10's Race and Culture team, building trust is not a mere buzzword; it is a guiding principle in their mission to represent and serve marginalized communities. By putting transparency, authenticity, and equity at the forefront of their reporting, they aim to rebuild trust with their audience and forge meaningful connections that reflect the diverse perspectives and experiences of the people they cover. The journey may be ongoing, but their dedication to this mission serves as a beacon, leading the way towards a more inclusive and trustworthy media landscape. Who will be next to take the initiative?
